State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said that is the lowest state unemployment rate in nearly four years, since it was 8.5 percent in January 2009.

Butler said the lower rate is the result of job growth and fewer layoffs.

“A lot of experts thought our job-growth numbers would be a lot lower. Right now, if trends continue for the rest of the year, we could see as many as 40,000 or 45,000 jobs created over the last 12 months,” Butler said.

The state labor department also reported the number of initial unemployment claims in November was the lowest for that month in seven years.

Gov. Nathan Deal said in a statement that he's encouraged by continuing growth in the number of manufacturing jobs in Georgia.